DUNDAS, ON — Define The World has been successful in every stakes event he has entered, except for the Ontario Sires Stakes, and trainer John Bax hopes the three-year-old trotter is ready to change that trend when he arrives at Flamboro Downs on Friday.

A 1:54.1 winner in the Canadian Breeders Championship at Mohawk Racetrack on July 26, and a runner-up in the Goodtimes Stake at Mohawk in June, Define The World has only managed to accumulate 58 points through the first two Gold events. The Duke Of York son failed to make the final in the Gold Series season opener, then won his elimination in the June 21 event at Georgian Downs, only to finish a fading fourth in the Gold Final.

“I was a little disappointed in the Final at Georgian,” recalls Bax, who conditions the trotter for breeder Al Libfeld of Pickering. “But he bounced back and raced very well in the overnight leading into the Canadian Breeders.”

After the June 28 Gold Final, Bax sent Define The World out in a non-winners contest at Mohawk on July 13, and the gelding powered home in impressive fashion to claim a nose victory in 1:56.4. In the Canadian Breeders Championship, Define The World finished a hard closing second to reigning Gold Final champion B Strike Three in the elimination round, then came back the next week to post a convincing five length victory that left favourite B Strike Three settling for fourth.

“I didn’t know if we could beat Raz’s (Mackenzie) horse (B Strike Three),” says Bax about the Canadian Breeders Championship final. “But we’d beaten him before and my horse, he can sprint very fast for a piece.”

Define The World and B Strike Three will renew their rivalry at Flamboro on Friday, facing off from Posts 1 and 3 in the second $40,000 Gold Elimination. Guelph resident Paul MacDonell will steer Define The World from Post 1, while Oakville resident Rick Zeron sends B Strike Three off the gate from Post 3.

Neither colt has logged any time over a half-mile racetrack this season, but Bax does not see that as a factor for Define The World. In fact, the colt’s stature could work in his favour around the Dundas oval’s banked turns.

“Over the winter he didn’t grow very much. He’s about the same size as his dad,” notes the Peterborough resident, who trained Duke Of York through his $925,921 career. “And not only is he fast, but he’s quick — and there’s a difference between fast and quick.”

Raced just four times as a two-year-old, Define The World has seven wins and four seconds to his credit through 13 starts this season. While he has logged more starts than most of his Ontario Sires Stakes peers, Bax feels the young trotter is just starting to fulfil the expectations he created during his early lessons.

“I was high on him when he trained down as a two-year-old. He always had potential, he had very quick speed,” recalls the horseman. “But my expectations were tempered somewhat with the bad two-year-old year.

“This year we started him out slow and let him come to it, and for once it worked out,” Bax continues. “I don’t think we’ve hurt him too much this year. He hasn’t been raced hard.”

In Friday’s elimination Define The World will need a top four finish to advance on to the $120,000 Gold Final, which will be part of Flamboro Downs’s popular Confederation Cup program on Sunday, Aug. 17.

The eliminations are slated for Races 2 and 4 on the Friday, Aug. 8 program, with Flamboro Downs sending its first race into the starter’s hands at 6 pm.

For complete entries please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/eflmdfr.html.